As far as pure talent is concerned, Gegard Mousasi stands head and shoulders above most.
A naturally-gifted athlete, Mousasi has already made waves in the mixed martial arts scene, becoming DREAM’s first middleweight champion at just 23 years old.
Now, Gegard is regarded as one of the better light heavyweight fighters in his class, with notable victories over the likes of UFC veterans Jake O’Brien, Sokoudjou and Renato Sobral. The bout with Sobral netted Mousasi the Strikeforce title in August of 2009.
The Armenian striker is a veteran of the K-1 circuit as well. In his last outing, he defeated the organization’s heavyweight champion in Kyotaro, earning a hard-fought decision win over the famed Japanese star in a non-title affair.
With a slew of talent already making their way into the UFC from the San Jose based promotion—such as Nick Diaz, Alistair Overeem and Cung Le—Mousasi could be a man up for discussion in joining the all-star ranks.
“I think eventually everyone will end up in the UFC if you want to be considered one of the best,” said Mousasi, 26, in an interview with Sherdog.com.
“I’m very open for that, but it’s not really up to me. It depends on if they would like me in the UFC or not, but I’m open to that. … Maybe later on I can try something in boxing, but at this moment, it’s not really realistic. K-1 is not doing well [either]. The only thing around is MMA. That’s what I need to focus on. I’m leaving all of the other stuff around and just focusing on MMA.”
While Gegard remains optimistic of his appeal to the higher ups of the UFC, president Dana White set the record straight a long time ago about how he feels.
“I want (Mousasi) and I want Fedor (Emelianenko), I want to do it,” said White during the post-fight press conference for UFC 108 in January of last year.
The whole process of signing either man proved difficult when both were under the M-1 Global banner. However, Gegard has since left his previous management team and could be free and clear to join the ranks of the organization without much hassle.
“I never say never, so like I said they can call me right now and we can start talking and try to figure this thing out, but I would love to get Mousasi in here. He should be, he deserves to be (in the UFC),” White added. “I like him, I’ve said it many times. I like him a lot, I’d love to get him in here and try him out with some of these other guys.”
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